The Mystus Chronicles
by thepheonixisangry-la
Summary: Starts from HBP, Harry Potter has had a secret guardian, a Faerie banished from her land, since the disaster in his youth. Bound to him, Mirage Mystus, known as Mira, has fallen in love with Harry and disguised herself as a witch.


Beth Esser

Prologue

Mirage Alynia Mystus is an elemental faerie, not to be confused with the common fairy, the small, glowing creatures that Hogwarts uses during Christmas to light the trees. Mirage, or Mira, is 5'7" with red/brown hair and hazel eyes in her normal form. Her eyes, hair, and even clothing change as she goes through her elemental forms, fire (offensive), earth (healing), air (flight), and water (defensive). For example, when Mira is in her fire form to negotiate with Draco, she has crimson, sparkling clothes, brilliant red hair, and orange eyes. Her water form is special in that she can willingly change her legs into a blue fish tail. For deeds unknown, Mira was exiled from the Faerie kingdom, whose location none has ever lived to tell. Mira, in grief of her deeds, had punished herself by casting a spell, linking her with the first person one of her tears lands on. Years later, Mira was flying over a small Hollow when she was knocked out of the air by an explosion. She fell to the ground by the ruins of a house, and a she heard a horrible scream. A cloud of smoke suddenly rose from the ruins and barreled past Mira, shrieking. Mira paid no notice to this (she had seen things like that before, sights like screaming smoke was not uncommon in her kingdom) but ran into the house to see if anyone was in there. On the ground was a man, then a woman, both dead. Horrified, she was about to run when she heard a small cry of a child, and rushed over to it. A small child lay in the rubble, and Mira tenderly picked it up. She understood that the child's parents were the ones lying on the ground, and she felt hot tears burn her eyes. One slid off her nose and onto the child's forehead, on a small, bloody cut. Immediately, she was bound to the orphan, who grew, with her aid, in the household of Mr. and Mrs. Dursley, and under the watchful eye of Albus Dumbledore. Mira watched the boy grow, and decided she wanted him to see her, so she went to Hogwarts with him, disguised as a witch. Dumbledore was the only one who knew of her identity. Harry Potter thought he braved every task with a good friend, but she was more than that. She fell in love with him the fifth year and they started dating at the beginning of the sixth. (Who is this Ginny person?!) At the end of the sixth year, when Harry is battling Snape on Hogwarts Grounds, Snape abducts Mira on his master's commands, for Voldemort has seen a use for Mira, but what?….

Beth Esser

Chapter 1- The Unwanted Visitor

_Harry…Harry!…_

Mira woke up, cold, shivering on a stone floor. _No, no it was a dream! Harry's ok…please…_ She looked up. Bars. She had bars around her. Primitive, rusted, cold iron bars. She was in a cage. She reached out, only to receive a hard shock on contact with the cold metal.

_It couldn't have happened!_ The cold, grim memories seeped slowly back to her. The Dark Mark, Dumbledore falling, Harry on the ground, and Voldemort's snake-like face. It was laughing.

She started to sob; round glowing tears fell from her luminous eyes. She failed in protecting Harry. He still didn't even know she was his faerie. _His faerie_. It sounded so nice, but because of her, he was gone now. And she was at the mercy of Voldemort.

"Harry…" She moaned. Then she jumped at the immediate, cold response.

"He's not dead" Mumbled a vindictive voice coming from a pitch-black corner.

"Who's there?" She demanded. She tried to sound fierce, but not even her magic could disguise the tremor in her voice.

He stepped out of the darkness, and immediately Mira's wings were out. Big mistake. She shouted as she realized two of her four wings were broken, folded in half and hanging limply. She spun back to her visitor, scowling.

"Not yet, at least. I leave Potter's death to my master." He smiled coldly.

"Snape."

Mira bubbled with rage and the want for revenge. "You slimy, greasy, murderous, BASTARD!" she screamed.

"I told you, Potter's not dead. And let's not get personal." He sneered.

"I should kill you. Murderous…heartless… lying coward!"

Snape's sneer fell from his greasy face. "What did you call me?" He hissed in a dangerous, demented voice.

"Coward." Mira said in a low voice, a crazy smile flashed across her face. "Coward, coward, coward, coward, COWARD!"

It was Mira's turn for her smile to fall. Snape stepped forward slowly, and simultaneously, Mira stepped back.

"Never…" Snape's voice wasn't anything she'd ever heard before. Hateful, cold…inhuman. "Never call me coward. You and Potter are the same." His hand came out of nowhere and clasped Mira's throat. She choked. "Pig-headed, self-absorbed…" He was pulling her closer to his face, until she saw every pore on his large nose. His eyes were red, and she was dangerously close to the cursed bars.

"Stupid." And at the last word, he jerked her into the bars. She screamed as the magical current seared through her veins. She tried to fight, but the combination of Snape's crushing hand on her throat and the screaming pain clouding her thoughts made her immobile.

After what seemed like forever, he threw her across the cage and Mira landed, shaking uncontrollably as she dealt with the remaining pain, bruises already started to appear on her neck.

"What are you going to do now, Mira? You can't protect Potter anymore. You can't even protect yourself. You're at my mercy, and insulting me isn't going to do you any more good than harm. I-"

"That's enough, Severus."

A freezing mist filled the room as Voldemort's shadow clouded the doorway into the small room. Two dementors trailed him in a sickeningly graceful way. She avoided his deformed face, his hollow, slit-like eyes that shot an icy stare. Snape quickly retreated to the corner. Mira had never seen Snape shrink back, and it would have been amusing if the dementors in the room didn't make it impossible to even think anything positive, nothing, except maybe…just maybe…she might die soon.

"No, Severus," Voldemort rasped, his back to Mira, who was shaking uncontrollably, partly because of the dementor's effect, partly because she was absolutely terrified of Voldemort with Dumbledore gone. "She's not at your mercy. She's at mine. And I assure you…" He turned to her, drawing closer. "There isn't much." He pointed his wand at her, sending the Cruciatus curse her way. She dodged.

"You can't dance forever. _Crucio!_"

Pain erupted through her body again as the curse nailed her in the chest. He'd shot to her left, knowing that's where she would dodge. She jumped right into his trap. He knew her too well. He drew back the curse, watching her violent shaking with satisfaction. With a smirk, he swept out of the room. Snape watched as the dementors seemed to stare longingly at the caged faerie, then followed Voldemort out like trained dogs. Grumbling, he turned to see Mira, in the middle of the cage, curled into a tight ball, hugging her knees. It shocked him momentarily. She looked so small. Her wings were broken, she was bleeding, her clothes ripped, and she was smudged with the grime on the floor. She looked…broken. He stared at her for a full five minutes before heaving a sigh, and returning to the chair he'd been assigned, in the shadowed corner of the room, to continue his watch.

Chapter 2- Powers

She wasn't keeping count, but it seemed to be Mira's fifth day in the cold, cramped cage. A man resembling a mangy, dirty rodent with a silver hand brought her food. He slipped it through a small bar, but always stared at her as long as possible, in a way that completely disgusted Mira. Luckily, Snape always chased him out. Other than that, Snape sat in a pitch-black corner of the room. She couldn't see, but she felt his eyes on her, always staring at her, only breaking the constant vigil to chase "Wormtail" out.

Once or twice she tried to use her powers, but she could only come up with a small, weak flame on her fire powers. Everything else was nearly shorted out. Her healing earth powers only managed to make a small cut stop bleeding, her air powers were gone with her wings, and as for her water powers, she couldn't manage to summon any water, but she could still make her legs transform into a tail. A long, lighted blue tail that still sparkled brilliantly in the impossibly dim light. However, without her powers or her wings, she was out for the count, completely venerable.

She heard Snape chuckle at a couple of her vain attempts. Glaring at the corner, she concentrated harder, with just the same results. With a growl of frustration, she gave up.

"Useless…" Snape echoed her thoughts accurately. She shot him another dirty look nonetheless, and then stared down at her hands. The hands that rescued Harry from the dragon's breath, just in time. The hands that made an air pocket to float Harry to the surface of the Black Lake after the grindylows swarmed. The same hands that copied the wizard's spells through a hollow stick. "Useless…" She half-heartedly flipped her tail, separating it into two long legs, the large fin split into two smaller fins, which slowly shrunk into her dirty feet. She glanced up to see the open top of her cage, but what could she do about it? Without her wings, she couldn't fly, and without her earth powers, she couldn't heal. No powers, no flight…

No hope.

Chapter 3- Fun with Wormtail

Wormtail entered the small room again, carrying Mira's food. She didn't even look up as the metal tray scraped loudly against the cement floor. She stared at the floor in a corner of the cage. Silently lost in thought, she traced a shallow hole in the floor. A cold, sharp fingernail suddenly poked her in the back. Shrieking, she jumped a foot into the air and spun around to face Wormtail, his hand still outstretched.

"What the hell is the matter with you!?" She yelled, angry and half-embarrassed that this little freak caught her off-guard.

"M-master's orders…" The little man trailed off.

She looked at him, her voice dripping with sarcasm. "You're master, Voldemort, I presume, ordered you to give me my food, then poke me in the back with a…" She looked with disgust at his yellowed fingernail, "_very_ sharp fingernail."

Wormtail took on a face she presumed to be determined, but it looked like he had a very sour stomachache.

"No," He said in a sandpaper squeak. "He wants me to bring you to him!"

"Huh. Then you're going to have to force me."

Wormtail dropped his sour face. Grumbling, he shuffled to the side of the cage she was against, reached out, and smiled, apparently pleased with his "brilliant" plan to force her to come.

Mira simply gave him a look, stood up, and walked casually to the other side of the cage.

Wormtail's smile slid off his face.

She looked over innocently at him. "Not the brightest crayon in the box, are we?" she said in a sweet voice.

It went on like that for a half-hour. Wormtail tried everything from spells to begging, to trying to grab her again. But everything he tried, Mira casually rejected it. After a half hour, Wormtail was panting and Mira was examining her nails with an air of pure boredom.

"If you don't come with me right now…" He started.

Mira flicked him off, never taking her eyes off her deeply engrossing nail examination.

A shuffling came from the corner, and Mira immediately became alert. Wormtail may be a slack-jawed _moron_, but Snape was one to be aware of.

"What are you doing _now_, Wormtail…?" Drawled Snape, dispassionately looking from a panting Wormtail to a very smug Mira.

"You were there the whole time?!" squealed Wormtail.

"Of course I was, it's my post. If I'm not mistaken, you were there when it was assigned. Have you forgotten already?"

Wormtail reddened. "S-she won't come with me!" He rasped.

"I don't blame her, I wouldn't be too keen on the idea either…"

Wormtail deflated. "I'm supposed to take her to the Dark Lord!" He argued.

"I can't believe you couldn't handle a teenage faerie stripped of both her powers and flight." Snape sneered coldly.

Wormtail reddened again, this time going into a deep crimson shade. Mira was mildly enjoying Snape's verbal assault on the ugly little man. Caught up in the two Death Eaters' conversation, she didn't notice Snape slip his wand out of his pocket.

In a split second, Snape wheeled around and sent a red flash at Mira. She crumpled to the ground, unconscious. Snape lifted the curse on the cage and picked her up, then, without even looking at a very shocked Wormtail, he stalked out of the room.

Chapter 4- Someone New

_Ah, my head…_ Mira inwardly moaned. Damn that Snape. Where was she? With great effort, she opened her eyes, and found herself in a different room. Her body was a dead weight, completely numb. After a couple of seconds, she realized someone was sitting next to her, Slytherin robes glittering richly. She couldn't lift her head enough to see the face of her stranger. She fought her eyelids, her vision drifting in and out of consciousness. _No! I have to…stay…awake…_ She battled with her half-conscious mind. The only way she could explain her condition was that it must have been quite a hex Snape cast on her. She felt as if she had been sucked of every ounce of blood in her body. She struggled with her mind, but relaxed when her stranger put a smooth, gentle hand through her hair. She was about to speak when she heard another voice. It was Snape's, but it was across the room.

"Stop playing with the girl and come here, Draco…" Said Snape in a bored monotone. Mira's visitor stood, stepped over her numb body, and walked over to the direction of Snape's voice. Draco! Of course, she'd forgotten how Snape had grabbed him on the way out of the castle. Draco had always had a crush on Mira (much to Harry's disgust…) and when he saw, and recognized, Mira in her water form, swimming in the black lake one night, he threatened to tell Harry the truth, just so they would break up. Obviously, he hadn't thought his plan through, because why would she date him if he caused her to break up with Harry? Draco was rash, but…he hesitated. He hesitated in his mission to kill Dumbledore. He lowered his wand when he had Dumbledore at his mercy. _He would have come with us…but Snape and the rest killed Dumbledore instead. He doesn't want to be here, I can tell…_

However, she didn't say anything, show any sign of life, even though she was painfully beginning to become aware of her body again. She heard the two speaking in low tones, but she couldn't understand most of it.

An hour passed, maybe more, and by this time she had complete control over her body again. Still, however, she didn't say a word, didn't move a muscle, making herself appear just as unconscious as she was before. No one suspected anything, because after another half-hour, Snape let Draco go back to stroking Mira's hair. Mira had no other choice but to allow Draco. Obviously, they expected the hex to last a while, because not only was she right in the middle of an open floor, the door was open as well.

She needed to get out, and she had broken wings, a teenage wizard, and a half-baked plan.

_All set…_ She thought.

Chapter 5- Negotiating

Just as she foresaw, Snape ordered Draco to carry Mira back to the cage. She kept reminding herself to remain completely limp, and Snape bought it. She allowed herself to be lifted by Snape, (very hard, because at this angle, she could kill Snape while she had the element of surprise) and set into the inexperienced, weaker arms of Draco Malfoy.

"Sir, what about you?" inquired Draco hesitantly.

"The Dark Lord has asked to have a word with me. As Wormtail has proved himself useless in handling the girl, I'll leave her in your hands. I expect she'll wake up in an hour or so, so don't…" Snape trailed off and stared strangely at Mira's hand, which he thought he saw give a slight twitch. "…dawdle."

Mira inwardly smiled. Had she let herself drift back to sleep, she wouldn't have had this chance. Waiting to make sure she was out of earshot and eyesight of Snape, she acted.

Tumbling swiftly out of Draco's arms, she landed smoothly on all fours, then gracefully stood and whipped around to pin Draco to the wall before he even had a chance to react. She managed to make her hand glow red. It had the same effect on Draco as if she was truly armed with her fire powers, but he didn't have to know she was harmless, yet.

"Don't…make…a sound." She whispered, but not exactly threateningly. Draco was terrified, but if he made so much as a whimper, someone might hear. "Draco, listen to me. I need to get out of here. I don't know what Voldemort needs from me, but I'm a little more than fairly positive it's not just for company. I can sense your feelings, Draco." She added, her voice smoother and softer. "Uncomfortable, unwilling, and scared. Come with me, I can help you, but we need to get out of here first." She lowered her glowing hand and took the other off his chest.

Draco was still terrified, and only managed to stutter "Snape…he said…said you would kill me…" Mira was staring down the hall, then looked at him through the corner of her eye.

"I can." (He took a sharp intake of breath) "But I won't. Unless you decide to give me a very good reason. Think about it. If I wanted to kill you, you wouldn't be alive right now. I've had six years at Hogwarts with you now, five of which you thought I was just a witch."

Draco relaxed a bit, but was still on his guard. She was scary, but gorgeous, her fire form boasting long, red hair and orange eyes, and a brilliant, bright red, glittering top with a fire-shaped cut bottom, and shorts of the same material and design.

_Snap out of it._ He thought._ I will die if I help her. Voldemort can track me by my Dark Mark, and that can't be removed…_

"It can" Draco whipped back into awareness. She had read his mind. "Draco, I can remove the Dark Mark. But we need to get out of here first. Do you trust me?" she looked him straight in the eyes.

She watched Draco's face line with doubt. _Trust her?_ But…she did say she'd remove the Dark Mark. The tattoo on his forearm squirmed uncomfortably.

"Draco," she started again, "You know there's no way I would kill a friend. But is Voldemort perfectly happy with you right now? You never know what he's thinking. If I remove the Dark Mark, who are you safer with? We can help your mom, if she'll come with us willingly. But to face reality, do you really think she will?" Mira's eyes were clouded as she said this, and she looked up to see tears in Draco's downcast eyes.

"No, she won't come." He tried to disguise his sniff, then nodded and looked Mira right in the eyes. "Let's do it." He held out his and, and Mira quickly accepted it.

Chapter 6- The Escape

Mira was acting again, hanging limply from Draco's arms like a rag doll. This time, however, she was confident. She had Draco's promise to slip her some things from nature, so she could charge her healing powers. Simple things, like a pinecone, or even a moss-covered rock. It was a simple mission to find the items, but an impossible one to get them past Snape. Draco, when listening to her plan, had an uncomfortable look on his face. However, Mira assumed it was just nerves.

But Draco looked more and more uncomfortable every time he snuck her a plant. She was getting worried. Was Draco one to completely trust? This thought echoed in her head the entire time she drained the plants of their hidden natural powers. As she absorbed these powers, her wings slowly repaired themselves. Tiny strands of fiberglass-like threads wove around each other to fill the gaping holes. Any doubts about Draco's trust were soon abolished, but his faith wavered, and he decided to take matters into his own hands.

Mira was sitting in the corner of the cage, thinking about the best way to conceal the remainder of the pinecones, and debating on trying to burn them without Snape seeing. Suddenly, Draco loudly bashed the doors to the room open, making Mira jump.

"Draco!" hissed Snape as he jumped from his corner. "What do you think you're doing?!" Snape was absolutely livid, because Draco had told Mira earlier that she wasn't supposed to know of his residence at the old house. Draco's outburst wasn't part of their plan, and Mira was severely worried.

"Draco?" Mira whimpered, the tone in her voice must have been begging for an explanation, but Draco completely ignored her. Instead he turned to Snape, a look of importance on his face.

"Sir, forgive me, but the Dark Lord sent me here to tell you he wanted to see you immediately. Er…nothing serious, it's just about the girl." He sent a look of curiosity at Mira, who was utterly confused. Snape didn't hesitate, but wordlessly glided out of the room. Draco turned to watch him leave; then looked back at Mira, not bothering to hide the extreme relief that spread across his face. His face hardened once more as he quickly lifted the curse on Mira's cage.

"How…" Mira began.

"Not now." He said in a low hiss. "I overheard them talking about how to lift it. Hurry now, Wormtail was sent to fetch you again!" He frantically started to tug on Mira's arm, and she started after him without hesitation, although she didn't understand. Draco was sprinting down the hall, Mira behind him, when they heard voices shouting from the opposite way. Draco swore loudly ahead of her.

"What-" Mira tried again but was interrupted once more by Draco when he bellowed "ALOHOMOLERA!" and a shot like a bullet danced out of the end of his wand and smashed against the giant wooden doors ahead of them. He had overdone the charm a bit, and completely destroyed the locks on the doors. The doors swung open, and they ran into the sunlight. He rounded on her.

"Can you fly yet?" He breathed.

"What? Only for a little bit, but…"

"Damn! Then go, HURRY!" He wore a scowl on his pointed face; his ice-blue eyes were wet.

"But-"

"Don't worry about me, FLY!" he roared.

_Like hell I will-_ thought Mira and she grabbed Draco's wrist and bent, gathering force, then shot into the air. Draco yelled under her, but after two weeks under Snape's watch in a cramped cage, Mira was almost crying with joy. A sense of euphoria rose with her powers as rocketed into the sun.

CRACK! A spell shot by Mira's ear, inches away. Remembering the dangling Draco, she grabbed his other hand and tore off into the cover of some nearby woods.

Chapter 7- Draco's Mark

She set Draco down gently, as he had fainted while they were in the air, before she collapsed herself. Her wings gave a painful throb, being as they were only half-healed, but Mira didn't care. With the plethora of nature around her, she could heal her wings in seconds. She glanced over at Malfoy, his unconscious body dead to the world, and smiled. She fell asleep for an hour or so, then woke up to find Draco gone.

"Draco?" she said tentatively, looking around. She startled when she heard a low groan in a ditch nearby. "Draco?!" she called again, getting up and starting to sprint to the ditch. He was in the middle, curled into the fetal position, clutching his right forearm. His face was screwed up in intense pain. "Draco!"

Draco opened his eyes to see Mira's gorgeous red hair tumble around his face. Her voice was distant, like she was calling from a hill a few miles away. He could only see the panic in her eyes, and then he couldn't control himself.

"You…did this!" Draco rasped in a voice Mira could never have imagined would come from his mouth. It was deep, frightening. "Y…your fault! Why did I listen to you?! Foul, filthy faerie! _Damn!_" He yelled, but no matter what, as if he were clutching a diamond and she was a thief, he would not let go of his arm. He continued mumbling to no one in particular, and Mira was on the verge of frustrated tears.

"Let go of your arm, Draco!" she shouted. It was his Dark Mark; Voldemort was driving him mad with pain. "Let GO!" she screamed, tears streaming down her face.

"NO!" screamed Draco back, and he pushed Mira off him. She tumbled for a moment, then regained balance long enough to watch Draco stumble into a dark, nearby cave.

She sprinted in after him. The caves were moist and dark, but there was light enough to reveal Draco, his wand pointed directly at Mira's face. Stunned, Mira froze. In the dim light, she saw Draco's eyes, staring in her direction but not at her. His breathing was uneven and shallow, and his skin sallow, with a slightly greenish tint. He had taken his hand off his Dark Mark, and Mira saw that the snake, writhing out of the fanged skull's mouth, had appeared to have sunk its inky fangs into his arm. "Oh, Draco…" she moaned. She couldn't even imagine his pain.

"Shut up…" he rasped. "Don't talk to me. If I kill you, bring you back to him…maybe…he'll be…pleased…" he spoke in short bursts of breath, then hissed, "_Avada-_"

Again, with unearthly grace, Mira ducked and dodged Draco's wand tip, just as the green flash flew past her. And again, before Draco could look around for her, she grabbed the Marked arm, jerked it sharply toward her, and kissed it.

Immediately, the Dark Mark began to recede, as if she were inhaling the cursed ink. When the Mark disappeared completely, Mira took her lips off Draco's arm and fell backwards against the cave wall. Draco, who had slowly and painfully received his sanity back, noticed she was breathing deeply, quickly, unnaturally. He dropped his wand and ran to her. Her eyes were screwed shut, and her breathing came more rapidly. She started to twitch, as if having convulsions, then she screamed. She opened her eyes completely, and Draco stepped back in horror. Her eyes had gone as black as the ink, and she started to choke, ink slipping from the sides of her mouth.

Then she stopped, her eyes open, her mouth agape, ink slipping from the sides. She looked like a corpse, completely pale as she was, but she was still breathing.

"M-Mira?" Draco stammered. Then the inky blackness receded from her eyes, while more ink poured out of the sides of her mouth. She blinked.

"Told you I could remove it." She whispered. Draco stared at her, unbelieving. She had almost killed herself, removing that Mark. Then Draco smiled.

"Thank God I was wrong."

Chapter 8- The Pursuer

For the next few days, Mira continued to cough up ink, while Draco strayed away often. Mira caught him yelling at a bowtruckle once, apparently because it saw his pale blonde hair and seized the opportunity to grab some for its nest. It chittered at him from a branch on the tree, throwing sticks and acorns at him while trying hard to hold on the chunk of hair it managed to wrestle away from him at the same time. Mira ran to Draco's side and, taking a few strands from her head, offered them to the stick creature. Draco shot her a look, but the bowtruckle scrambled down the trunk, seized the offering, the scrambled back up and into a small knot. She giggled, then looked around at Draco, who was rubbing his head and glaring sullenly at the knot. He turned on his heel and stomped off, only to have one more acorn smack him on the back of the head. Wheeling around, he was about to start yelling at the creature again, when Mira grabbed the back of his robes and dragged him behind her, ignoring his protests.

She let go a safe distance away from the tree, and Draco gave her a disdainful look, straightened his robes, then walked off, as if she were the one who was just yelling at a tree guardian. Mira rolled her eyes.

Draco's arm was getting better. He had what looked to be a second-degree burn where the Mark used to be, but it wasn't a burn, or Mira would be able to heal it quickly for him. Unfortunately, he was also reverting back to his attitude he usually boasted at school. He looked oddly different without his pair of goons thumping along on either side of him. Again, Mira thought better of saying anything, and walked on. He was obviously used to acting like this, and to try and change him would be a losing battle.

Mira was stacking sticks for a small fire, purposely ignoring Draco behind her, who was giving audible sniffs in her ear and snickered every time the sticks toppled. Mira rounded on him.

"If you aren't going to help-"

"Come on, you sound like my Mom…" he drawled. Silence. She looked at him, and he had frozen on the spot, a sort of shocked, confused look on his face. She was thinking the same thing he was. Voldemort probably took the frustration of their escape on her, now that Draco's Mark was gone. She was probably dead. Mira winced, and Draco's head dropped.

"Oh, um…" she stammered uncomfortably. "Um…I, well-"

"Just stop." His voice was thick. "I know what you're thinking, and I'm not upset. She valued the Dark Lord, her life, more than me. If she doesn't care, why should I? And I don't. Not even close." He was lying, because his heart rate and breathing skyrocketed. She noticed he kept nervously rubbing his arm.

"Draco, what- what was Voldemort doing with me?" she desperately changed the subject. However, this made Draco freeze as well, but this time it was nervous, scared. But he answered honestly. She didn't think Voldemort's actions would bother her much, but they did.

"Are you sure you want to know?" Draco asked in a small voice. She began to get a very ominous feeling about this.

"Yea. Why did you freak about Wormtail coming? I may hate him, but he's not that hard to handle…" Draco just rubbed his arm faster. Mira was seriously concerned now. "What- is it that bad? I figured he just wanted to keep me out of the way…" Draco just kept looking more and more uncomfortable.

"Didn't you wonder why your powers weren't working?" Draco sighed.

"Well, yea. Do you know? Why weren't they working?" Mira's voice was small. She knew, by Draco's reaction, that this was not going to be what she had hoped.

"Well, the Dark Lord found out that a faerie's powers are many times greater than a wizard's, when used correctly. He found you, one of the last of your kind, and decided to make use of your powers." Draco deflated.

Mira stared at him. "Are- are you saying he was _taking_ my powers?" She squeaked. Draco winced, and looked sadly up at her. "Oh, no…" she said, with a strained laugh. "You've got to be kidding me-" Mira was cut off by a loud crash in the bushes behind her. Mira panicked, and grabbed Draco's robe sleeves.

"Run!" she yelled. She jerked Draco into motion. Something was chasing them, something big. She reached out her earth senses. If it was human, she would sense strong thoughts. If it was an animal, she would be able to sense _something_, like brainwaves or instinct. Reaching mentally out behind her, she felt…nothing. Mira drew back, stunned. Even a tree has vibrations, but this was…nothing, an absence of thought, feeling, or space. It was intimidating and glowed with a dark blue aura, but the strangest thing was that it was almost pulling her in, and she felt like she could get lost in that endless, almost gentle nothing. Mira kept running, pulling Draco behind her, who was having serious trouble keeping up, and made up lost time by stumbling every few feet, flinging himself forward, then catching himself.

Still struggling to figure out what their pursuer was, she was suddenly drenched in cold. She felt ice form on her eyelashes, and she slipped slightly on a patch of ice that had been a puddle a second before. Frost gathered on bushes nearby, causing them to wilt. Even Draco knew what was happening, because he gave a shuddering gasp and slowed down, making Mira pull harder. But the source of the sudden chill wasn't behind them, it glided onto their paths.

Mira shrieked and tried to change course, but another patch of ice forced her to resort to plan B. Immediately, Mira's wings were out, but before she took off, a large, dark blur smashed into the waiting dementor from the side of the path, pushing it into the trees to her right. She heard a struggle, and Mira stopped dead. As a result, Draco ran right into her, then fell backwards, panting with such force, it sounded like he was suffering from an asthma attack.

"What did we stop for, it's right behind us!" He yelled at the top of his lungs. "We don't even know what it-" While talking, he turned around to get face-to-face with a scaly, fanged, horse's head. It gave him a large, wet lick up his face, which was bloody from twig scratches. Draco screeched and jumped three feet into the air, then landed and scrambled behind Mira. The large horse stepped completely out of the trees, revealing bat-like wings that sprouted smoothly from its back. Astounded, Mira looked up to see a wounded dementor soar away, one of its black sleeves torn away, revealing a skeletal arm, held together only by scabbed, grey flesh. She felt warm again, and the ice patches that dotted the ground melted. The horse that attacked the dementor emerged out of the trees as well, pitch-black liquid dripping from its fangs.

Thestrals.

Chapter 9- Cowlicks and Pat

Brilliant blue-black scales seemed to absorb all the light around them, as the thestral lowered his head to reveal dark, black hair, while Mira craned her neck to get a better look at the leathery wings. She reached out and touched the top of his head. It was so smooth, and cool to the touch. With a quiet whisper, the scales gave way under Mira's hand about an inch, then hit the smooth, dark skin. Its head gave a jerk, and before she pulled her hand away, she felt the scales the other way, hard, rough, and sharp.

She looked at Draco, who was still cowering, but not as badly.

"Wha-what is that?" he stammered.

"Don't you remember? Hagrid taught us about them!" Then she remembered. When Hagrid taught them, Draco had never seen death. He had no idea what they were. Now, however, Draco had witnessed Dumbledore's death, and could plainly see the creature that was hungrily staring at his cuts, which had begun to bleed again.

"These…" Mira motioned to the two creatures, "are thestrals." She grinned. Draco's eyes expanded.

"Th-the things you only see after you watch someone chuck it?" he looked from the thestral to Mira's face, clearly annoyed at his choice of wording. He stared at it, then the other one approached him from behind and nosed him in the back. Screeching once again, he wheeled around to see the other one, who, yet again, gave his bloody face another hearty lick.

"Eraug!" Draco wiped his face on his sleeve, gave the thestral a scathing look, and stood up, ignoring Mira's peals of laughter.

"Aww, he likes you!" Mira joked. Draco was not amused.

"What do they want? Why was it chasing us?" he asked, keeping an eye on both thestrals.

"Well, he must have been hunting, then chased us when he heard us running." She giggled. Draco pushed a thestral nose away from his head, then gave a short yell when he accidentally pricked his finger on a fang. While he rubbed his finger, the other thestral licked the side of his head, leaving a huge cowlick in his pale hair. It jumped away with a small flap of its wings as Draco, face screwed up in anger, tried to smack its nose.

"CUT IT OUT!" he bellowed as the other thestral snuck up behind him and quickly and deftly applied another cowlick to the back of his head. Mira was doubled up in laughter as Draco tried in vain to run away from one, then chase the other. Obviously, the thestrals made a game of it, and were winning by a margin of a lot to a little. Draco's hair was plastered into small spikes, sticking out in random directions.

Mira finally relieved Draco of his obnoxious playmates by drawing a small cut down her arm, and offering it out to the thestrals. They both lifted their heads, then trotted over to sniff the blood that was leaking out of the cut. Before they could lick it, she snatched her arm away, and took the moment to give them a very reproachful look. Their eyes sparkled, then they lowered their heads in what looked like mock remorse. They understood her! A brilliant smile cut across her face, and was only magnified when she saw what her large blue hairstylists did to Draco's hair.

Draco gave her a look that clearly shouted "say anything and I'll curse you so bad it'll knock you into next Tuesday." So she choked back her laughter and looked at the thestrals again. One seemed to be smiling at her, the one who began the end of Draco's dignity.

"Alright, Cowlicks, come here." He trotted over and nudged her arm, then turned into the trees, as though accepting the nickname. This gave her an idea. She turned to the other one.

"What should we call you, then?" she asked thoughtfully.

"Abomination? Beast? Waste of Space? Freak? Monster?..." Draco seemed to already have a long list, and went through the whole thing with bitterness dripping from his voice. He tried to straighten his hair out, but it seemed determined to stay cemented into space. The unnamed thestral, the one that saved the two from the dementor, simply stared at her.

"You did a marvelous job with that dementor. How about "Patronus?" Pat for short?" Satisfied, it gave her a nudge as well, then nuzzled the bushes and pulled out a dead rabbit. It was munching happily, and Draco looked sick. Drawing him away from their new company, Mira spoke.

"That dementor will be back, probably with mates. Cowlicks and Pat might be able to help." They both raised their heads in response. Draco glared at them.

"How?" Draco posed a good question. Even if the thestrals could fly them somewhere, where would they go? Grimmauld Place was out of the question, Draco couldn't go there. Privet Drive? No, what would Harry and Draco do in the same house? She shuddered at the thought. But…anywhere else was dangerous. Voldemort couldn't touch them there. Looking uncertainly at Draco, she posed the unthinkable question.

Draco," she said tentatively. "Um, I know a place where we'll be safe. But you have to agree with everything I'm about to say." Suspicion lined his face.

"We can't hide at my house…" he started.

"Of course not…"

"We can't go anywhere public…"

"Don't be silly…"

"And I'm not hiding in some cave."

"No way…"

He sighed. "Then where?" Mira flinched.

"Harry's house."

Draco stared at her, then spoke slowly. "I'd rather live in the cave."

"Draco, Voldemort can't touch us there, we can't go anywhere else-"

"I'm not going to Potter's house!-"

"He can help us-"

"-absolutely no way-"

"I'll explain everything to him-"

"-can't make me-"

"-don't have another choice-"

The heated argument went on, each interrupting the other constantly. Cowlicks and Pat were completely ignoring them, and were now fighting over a buck's body. The argument stopped abruptly when cowlicks gave an almighty sneeze, making them both jump. Draco glared darkly at her, and Mira met his eyes with an equally determined stare. Mira was stubborn, and Draco looked away.

"We're going to Harry's house. When we get there, you are to hide until I've convinced Harry to let you stay." Her face softened. "Please."

He looked sideways at her, the looked to his right and grunted. Smiling, she accepted the closest thing to a "yes" that she knew she would get. Then she lost her smile when she realized how hard it would be to get Harry to agree. She called Patronus over and sighed.

This was going to be a long, difficult day.

Chapter 10- Making Malfoy a Muggle

Draco had severe difficulty with getting on Cowlicks. Mira struggled to help him as Cowlicks stood there quietly, a sort of grin on his face. Mira ignored this, and finally opened her wings, grabbed Draco under the arms, and lifted him into the spot just in front of the wings. Finally seated, he gave one shaky wobble, then grinned in triumph. Seeing this, Cowlicks couldn't resist. Rearing up, he took off, did a complete flip, then landed on the same spot it was before, this time with a milk-faced Draco clinging to the mane, who then fainted to the ground.

"Cowlicks!" she cried in frustration as she summoned cool water from the ground, which hovered in midair, then was unceremoniously dropped on Draco's face. Sputtering, Draco got up and glared at Cowlicks. She heard him mumble "dumb horse…" before she picked him up and placed him on Patronus instead. Cowlicks looked a little disappointed, but quickly moved on, spying a squirrel and darting after it. Mira waited until Cowlicks, with a fuzzy tail hanging out of the side of his mouth, trotted back.

"Cowlicks, concentrate." She muttered in his ear. "OK, you two. We need to go to Number Four, Privet Drive, New Whinging." She said louder, as she flew up and gracefully landed on Cowlicks back. Waiting, the thestrals did nothing for a minute, and Draco and Mira exchanged glances. Just as Draco cocked an eyebrow at her, Patronus gave a huge jolt, expanded his wings, and took off. Cowlicks followed suit, and bounded into the air after Patronus. Ahead of her, she heard Draco yelling constantly, not even taking time to breathe. Mira rolled her eyes. She mentally reached some soothing tendrils into Draco's mind, and while he was still pale and holding on to the mane for dear life, at least he stopped screaming.

The giant bat-wings beat rhythmically, making the flight uncomfortable. She was used to a smooth flight when flying by herself, not the jaunting, bouncy flight on a thestral. Draco's face regained some color when he set his foot on one of the thestral's joints, stabilizing himself. Cowlicks was obviously young, because his flight was a lot more uneven, making Mira stabilize herself quite a few times.

The ground rolled past under them. Cowlicks barreled through every nearby cloud, and Mira ended up soaked after an hour. Draco's light blonde hair was buffeted by the wind and the thestral's wings. Mira looked to her left and marveled the size of the bat wings. Each wing spanned ten feet on either side of her. After every flap, a whirlwind of air lifted her hair and made it dance behind her. Down below them, forests turned to pastures and pastures turned to houses. Alarmed, Mira quickly cast a spell over herself and Draco, blending them into the sky. The spell felt like she had been dipped into warm wax, and she felt Draco stiffen for a moment, then relax. She didn't dare perform the spell on the thestrals. Faerie magic can affect creatures differently, and the last thing she wanted to do was knock her steed unconscious a mile above the ground. Muggles who saw the horses will just have to pretend they saw a very big bird. Suddenly, the thestrals started to descend, and she heard Draco moan ahead of her. Flying in circles, they slowly lost altitude, and the thestrals touched the ground surprisingly lightly, with a dull clatter of hooves on pavement. Mira slipped off, but Draco fell flat on his back. She walked to him and stood over his head, looking down.

"That wasn't too bad, was it?" she said in a mock-cheery voice. He stood up and gave her one of those if-looks-could-kill glares.

"I've got blisters on my a-"

"We're going to need new clothes." Mira cut him off. "We can't very well go into a muggle home looking like this." She waved her hand, indicating her wet, sparkling red outfit and Draco's torn green robes. Draco sneered.

"Like we have any money. What are you going to do, magic up some muggle clothes? You should have thought of this earlier. Oh wait!" he said nastily. "Maybe we can make some clothes out of the two nags over there!" Both thestrals looked up at Draco from the trash can they were rifling through and bared their fangs.

"Shut it, Draco. Ever heard of faerie gold?" he glanced at her, interested. She bent down and picked up a fallen leaf. Closing her hand around it, it glowed for a minute. When she opened her hand, a small golden sphere glittered richly in the middle of her palm. Draco's face betrayed his astonishment.

"Useful when need be, but after a week it becomes a leaf again." She said calmly, staring at the gold ball.

"Fine, let's get some clothes first." Draco grunted.

Mira had an absolute blast trying everything from spandex to leather on Draco. Draco, who trusted Mira more than himself with muggle fashion, resigned grumpily to everything she handed him. Finally settling on some baggy, faded jeans and a black tee, Draco Malfoy had become muggle. He looked actually kind of…good. Mira smiled. Another point on the scoreboard for the fashion police. Now it was her turn. Mira dug through the jeans and khakis, but found nothing until she stumbled across an off-white miniskirt. She matched that with a form-fitting tee that had _Destiny_ written across the front. Stepping out of the changing room, Draco dropped his jaw.

"Take a picture, it'll last longer." Mira said with a smile and went to pay for the clothes. The large man behind the counter eyed the two warily, but when Mira reached into her pocket and drew out the gold spheres, his eyes bulged.

"What are those?" he asked in a low growl.

"Er…we're not from around here." He didn't look convinced. "Er…keep the change?" The man suddenly grunted in pleasure and scooped up the gold balls. She turned and smiled at Draco, who sniffed and started walking out of the store. The clothes looked good on him, and went well with his sulky attitude. The clothes were the easy part, though. Now she had to go see Harry and the Dursleys. She sighed inwardly as she reached Privet Drive. _Ready or not, Harry…_ She thought.

Chapter 11- Harry and Mira

She had Draco wait around the corner of the house. He shoved his hands into his pockets and glared at the fence in front of him.

"I'm not doing this." He said abruptly. Mira paused.

"I'm sorry, Draco. Do we have another choice?" She looked at him through the corner of her eye. "I'd like to hear it. Tell me. Where can we go that Voldemort can touch us?" Draco glared at her and growled.

"Where can we go that the dementors can't find us?"

Draco looked the other way. Mira dropped her voice and said darkly,

"Where can we go without you being arrested by the Ministry?"

He closed his eyes and sighed. "Fine. Go get it over with."

"I'll be back in a minute." Mira walked to the front door and knocked, hoping against hopes that Harry would answer. No such luck. A fat but muscular boy answered the door. He was talking on the phone in a deep, commanding voice. He turned to Mira, still chatting, but when he saw Mira, he stopped in mid-sentence. By the look on his face, one would think he had never seen a girl in his life. His chins wobbled as he chewed a sandwich. He opened his full mouth to speak.

"Herro?" he managed, showing a blended bite of BLT.

"Dudley Dursley, I presume. My name is Mira, can I come in?" she simpered.

Dudley made an odd, squeaky noise, then snapped back to reality. "Sh-sure. Yea. Come on…in." He suddenly began to whisper feverishly into the phone, and Mira caught snippets. "Hey JD…Gotta go…some chick showed up…talk to you later…_later_, I said!" He hung up, and Mira tried to look polite. "Come on, come in. Er… want some?" He said weakly with a silly grin.

"Er…No." she hid her revulsion at the half-eaten sandwich. "But I…"

"HEY DAD!" Dudley suddenly bellowed. A thumping came from the kitchen, and a large man with a bushy mustache squeezed out of the kitchen door. A skinny, horsy woman stuck her head out from behind him, and the man broke into a huge smile.

"That's my boy! Gotch yerself a girlfriend, eh?" The man boomed. Dudley beamed.

"What's that? My Duddys?! _Oh_!" the woman's eyes teared and they both rushed forward to Dudley.

"Excuse me!" Mira bellowed. The Dursleys all turn to her in surprise. Mira smiled again. "Thank you. Now, I believe you're mistaken. I have not come here to be Dudley's…girlfriend." She inwardly shuddered. "You must be Mr. and Mrs. Dursley. It's a…pleasure to finally meet you." Mira was straining to keep her smile. "I am here to see a Mr. Harry Potter. He lives with you, right?"

She was delighted at the stunned looks that registered on the Dursley family's faces. Dudley looked like he was waiting for her to shout out "April Fools," Mr. Dursley turned purple, and Mrs. Dursley looked like she was experiencing a nervous breakdown. Mira stood patiently, looking from one to the other.

"Harry, huh?" snarled Mr. Dursley.

"Yes, thank you." Mira chirped brightly.

He turned another shade of purple, then bellowed "HARRY!" There was a crash, then a curse, followed by a muffled thumping of feet on the steps. Harry Potter appeared out of a doorway, looking at his uncle. Mr. Dursley, shaking, pointed slowly at Mira, who was standing in the corner of the room. Harry looked at her and paled. She understood why. The last time he saw her she was being dragged off by Snape, undoubtedly to Voldemort. He probably had assumed her dead.

"Hi, Harry." Said Mira brightly, in a small voice. In a flurry, they both ran at each other and hugged. Harry lifted Mira off her feet for a moment. They were both talking at once, both crying. Harry started to kiss her when Mr. Dursley announced loudly that they had toed the line, and that they were to explain themselves. Harry looked at his uncle and squared his shoulders.

"Uncle Vernon, may I introduce Mira, my girlfriend."

The last two words hung in the room a minute. Dudley's eyes started popping, undoubtedly trying to comprehend how his cousin managed to get such a beautiful girlfriend. He kept opening and closing his mouth, like a fish out of water. Uncle Vernon paled, and Aunt Petunia gave a little squeak.

"Girlfriend? Fr-from that school? She can do…" Uncle Vernon stammered off.

"Magic?" Mira gleefully supplied.

All three Dursleys jumped. Aunt Petunia shrieked loudly, and Dudley grabbed his buttocks with both hands, as he had come out of one experience with one of Harry's friends with a curly, pink pig's tail. Mira laughed at the sight of a teenage boy, a leader of a gang, clutching his buttocks.

"Harry," said Uncle Vernon dangerously. "Tell that girl the rules of this household."

Harry smiled wickedly. He turned to Mira and said; "Right, we are not allowed to say _ANY_ of the following…" before the Dursleys could stop him, he shouted the entire list. At every word, the Dursleys shrunk back as if being threatened with a stick. When he reached the end of the list, (_WANDS, HOGWARTS, WITCHES…_) both he and Mira were in silent giggles.

"Are you _quite_ finished?" hissed Mr. Dursley.

"Not quite," choked Mira. "_Wizards!_"

The Dursleys recoiled, and Harry and Mira lapsed into fresh giggles.

"That's ENOUGH!" Roared Mr. Dursley. Harry and Mira abruptly stopped laughing, although they had a hard time concealing their smiles whenever they made eye contact. Harry's vivid green eyes sparkled in his mirth, and Mira was leaning on Harry, partially because of the stitch in her side, and partly because the idea of leaning on Harry just felt so _good…_ She sighed. He would never forgive her for bringing Draco, who was still waiting outside, unless he'd snuck off. Well, it was now or never, and she was sure Draco was getting impatient.

"Harry, do you think we can ask for some privacy?" she inquired in a whisper.

"Yea. My room?" He whispered in reply.

"No. Here. I have something serious to talk about."

He gave her a quizzical look, but turned to the Dursleys. "Can we have some privacy in here?" he smiled. "School stuff." That was like the magic word, and all three of them started moving toward the kitchen door. Dudley gave Mira one last, greedy glance, and in response, Mira leaned on Harry. Dudley's face reddened, and he shoved his girth through the door. The door clicked, and she turned to Harry, who had taken a seat on the sofa and was inviting her to sit next to him. She gratefully obliged.

"So what's up?" Harry's eyes bored into Mira. She grinned.

"First of all, _this._" She purred as she pulled Harry's head gently toward her own, brushing her lips on his and allowing their breaths to dance on each other's faces. Harry pulled her into a kiss. He reached out and put his arms around her waist, pulling her gently closer to him, and she melted against him and let out another purr. She wrapped her arms around his neck and they lingered there, lips gently pressed against the other's.

Outside, Draco sighed, extremely bored. Mira was taking an excruciatingly long time convincing that _Potter_ to let him in. he snarled at his position, hiding like a dangerous criminal, waiting, of all things, to be let into his enemy's house. He was leaning under a window, surrounded by, to his further disgust, pink poppies. He kept hearing a man yell earlier, but now everything was quiet. Must have been the muggle, it didn't sound like Potter. His lip curled. _He's probably making kissy faces at her._ He thought. (He obviously didn't know how right he was…) and what on earth was he supposed to do to get Mira to get a move on? He let out a growl of frustration, then decided to look through the window. Standing up, he cupped his hands around his eyes to get a better view. There was a cozy living room, with someone sitting on the sofa to his left. _Odd-looking person, kinda lumpy-_ Draco's eyes widened. Mira and Harry were kissing on the sofa.

Draco swore loudly to himself. Looking back in, he decided to wait until they broke apart. 30 seconds…a minute…a minute 30 sec- Oh this is ridiculous! Draco gave them a hint by crouching against the wall again and giving it a loud rap. Satisfied with himself, he sat back down and resorted to watch a grasshopper make its way across the grass.

Chapter 12- Mira Gets it Over With

Mira was indulging herself, falling into Harry's body warmth lavishly. Harry's glasses had just fallen off when he stiffened, and broke apart from her, looking alarmed.

"What?" Mira inquired.

"Didn't you hear that? Something just knocked against the window…" Harry pointed, to Mira's horror, at the window she had left Draco under. Shoot! She completely forgot, poor Draco! Harry started toward the window when Mira grabbed his wrist, pulling him back.

"Harry! Stop, ah, that was the other thing I needed to talk to you about…"

He looked concerned. "They didn't follow you, did they?" he glanced anxiously at the window again. He was obviously referring to the Death Eaters. Mira gave him her best guilty look.

"Sorta…"

"Mira, I know that look, you're hiding something." He said gently, reproachfully. "What is it? You know I can handle it."

"Oh, God…" Mira moaned. She was thinking fast, but negative thoughts just kept bouncing around in her head. _No, you can't handle this, Harry. You'll blow your top, you'll never talk to me again, you won't let him in…_ she shook her head, clearing it._ No, think positive. OK, Harry, let's see you handle this._ Mira was so nervous she felt beads of sweat on her forehead.

"Harry, I didn't get out of Voldemort's place alone…" she started. Then she looked him hard, right in the eye. "Do you trust me?"

"Yes, I trust you." He said softly, lovingly.

"Do you trust my judgment?" she drilled him.

"Yes, Mira, I trust your judgment…" he started talking wearily. He knew Mira always did this when she did something she knew Harry wouldn't like.

"OK, now the last thing you need to know is that I can't be deceived. Maybe by a powerful wizard, but-"

"Mira, what did you do?" Harry interrupted. He put his hand over his eyes, dreading the worst.

"Wait here." Was Mira's response, and Harry heard her plod out of the house. He took his hand off his eyes and turned to sit on the sofa. The second he had his back turned, a cold, sleek voice caught him completely off-guard.

"Potter." It was said as a cool greeting, but Harry heard the edge of loathing in the single word. He whipped around to come face-to-face with his schooldays tormentor. Blonde hair fell smoothly over his pointed face, icy blue eyes stared him down.

"Oh, God," Harry mumbled. "You've got to be kidding…"

Chapter 13- Not Kidding

Harry didn't even notice Mira emerge behind Draco. Mira looked from one boy to the other. Draco looked completely calm, but Harry had been knocked off his feet, mentally speaking. This was worse then he was dreading, and the worst thing he thought of was Wormtail.

"Mira?" he whimpered weakly. Mira walked over to him and nervously smiled. Draco smirked. Harry spoke in a hoarse whisper. "Mira, for God's sake, out of all the Death Eaters you could have brought home, you…bring…_Malfoy?!_" Harry still hadn't taken his eyes off Draco, and vise versa.

Mira groaned. She looked at Draco. "Draco, sit down." Smirking again, he took a seat on the same spot Harry and Mira had been kissing minutes before. Harry looked at Mira with a face that looked like she had just asked Draco to take a seat on Harry's lap. "Oh, ease up and sit down, too, Harry." She pulled Harry behind her, and they sat opposite of Draco, who was looking at the fireplace with a bored expression. Suddenly, Mira realized she faced another problem. What if Draco told Harry she was a faerie?! She just wouldn't allow it. She had ways of being nondescript.

"Close your mouth, Harry. OK, now Harry. Harry _look at me._ Thank you. Now, Draco, you and Harry are not allowed to use your wands on each other. At all. Do I make myself clear? You do, _you will be sorry._ Next, Draco, you have to behave around the muggles. Don't give me that face, Draco, it's not like I'm telling you to kiss their…anyway, Harry, Draco, Hogwarts and any events that happened there are not to be mentioned." This disappointed Mira as well, as she was eager to bring up the Amazing Bouncing Ferret just one more time… "And you two don't have to be chit-chatty, but for Heaven's sake _say something!_" Exasperated, she practically gave up on Draco, who was looking anywhere but Harry, and Harry, who wouldn't look anywhere but Draco.

"Snap out of it, Harry, and let's go tell your Aunt and uncle that they'll have a couple of houseguests that can make their own food, if you know what I mean, and won't need extra rooms. If we're lucky, Draco and Dudley will get along and they can sleep in the same room." They both stopped and glanced at each other, then both erupted into laughter for a few minutes. When this died down, Mira continued. "I can sleep in either the place under the stairs or on the sofa." As she said this, they passed it and Mira casually opened it with a jolt. Spiders rained down, and Mira quickly shut it, face pale.

"The sofa it is, then?" Asked Harry, amused.

"Ha, ha." Shot Mira back, and smiled. "The last thing is, Harry, that he can't go anywhere else. If he goes outside, he'll be caught and killed in an hour." Mira looked at Harry, who didn't say anything, but pretended to be very pleased at the thought. Mira punched his arm playfully, and they proceeded to the kitchen.

Chapter 14- Malfoy Meets the Muggles

When they got to the kitchen, all three Dursleys were sitting at the table with their heads together, discussing something in whispers, undoubtedly Mira. Harry cleared his throat, and all three Dursley heads snapped up.

"Hey, there!" Mira said brightly, as if they were old friends. They simply looked offended.

"Nice." Mumbled Harry out of the corner of his mouth, and smiled. "Uncle Vernon, I was just going to tell you that you all can come in to the living room now. Mira and I are done talking."

"Right. Come to the living room then, you two, I'm going to lay down the laws of this house." Uncle Vernon drew himself to his full height, and Aunt Petunia gave a small but resolute nod, while a nasty little "yea!" escaped Dudley. Both Mira and Harry smiled, however, and followed Uncle Vernon out of the kitchen and into the hall. At the entrance to the living room, Uncle Vernon stopped short, blocking the whole passage. He slowly turned to them, face colored the usual tell-tale purple, spewing incoherent streams of words. He stepped backwards, allowing them to file into the room, and pointed, shaking, at the back of Draco's head.

"Another one?" he hissed in a whisper. Draco looked up, watching Harry, Mira, and the Dursleys slowly fill the living room, mostly due to Uncle Vernon and Dudley's girth. He stood up and walked over to them, then stopped when he reached Dudley. He gave Dudley a looked-over, then, after an anxious silence, pronounced in a loud sneer, "My God, your fat."

Hell blew up in front of Mira's eyes. Aunt Petunia screamed in outrage, and Uncle Vernon turned a shade of purple so deep it would make red wine jealous. Dudley yelled stupidly "say that to my face!" when Draco had, in fact, just looked him in the eye and said it. Mira grabbed the back of his tee and towed him behind her and out the door. Harry nodded as she stepped out, as if to say "I'll take care of these ones, you smack him around for a bit."

Once out the door, Mira took Draco to the garden. Draco was immobile with laughter at Dudley's sharp retort. She let go of his tee and waited for his peals of laughter to subside. Once they did, and Draco quieted down, Mira flatly and deftly stated; "Draco Malfoy, you have the sensitivity of a warthog."

Draco looked up and grinned. "I know, isn't it great?"

"You just insulted the entire family. Harry has to deal with them and convince them to allow you to stay within a five-mile radius…"

Draco just started laughing again, and repeated, between gasps, "_Say that to my face!_" Mira uttered an impatient noise, and Draco looked up with a toothy grin with tears in his eyes, "what do you want me to do? I already feel sorry for Potter for having to live with Captain Hundred-chins over there. I mean, bloody hell, you have to admit it…" he said weakly and started giggling again.

SMACK!

"Ow! Dammit, what'd you do that for?!" yelped Draco.

"I told you to behave around the muggles. Oh, and don't call them muggles. It's Mr. Dursley, Mrs. Dursley, and Dudley. And whatever you do, _don't _mention anything about the wizarding world." It started to drizzle, and Harry came out back inside.

As they stepped in, Mira was aware that all eyes were on Draco. Mira heard Mr. Dursley whisper to Mrs. Dursley "I don't _see_ any bruises…" while still walking, she jabbed her elbow into Draco's stomach behind her, and Mr. Dursley gave an approving grunt. With a sudden inspiration, she hastily removed her shoes, and indicated Draco to do the same, which earned a relieved sigh from Mrs. Dursley. The three trudged up the stairs and into Harry's room. Once the door was closed, all three, the disguised faerie, the ex-Death Eater, and the Boy Who Lived, collapsed onto the floor in laughter.

Chapter 15- Mystus Chronicles II

Mira completely enjoyed her stay at the Dusleys, whether they did or not. She couldn't say the same thing for Draco, but he did enjoy his occasional evil smile at Dudley, especially when no one was looking. Mira knew of this because she would turn around from an eating Dudley and a surly Draco, then turn back to a red-faced, shaking Dudley and a very content, smiling slightly, Draco. She didn't like Draco patronizing the muggles, but then again, what she pretended she didn't know couldn't hurt her. Draco was forced to sleep in Harry's room, or at least in the closet. Mira magically expanded the inside of Harry's wardrobe with a similar spell to the one that the Weasleys used on the cars to fit everyone on the way to the train station. The only problems they had were Harry's complaint about having to move his clothes and Draco moaned about the "stench."

"You two are such loudmouths." Mira snarled as they argued at her. Once she said she could solve their problems by incinerating Harry's clothes and magically removing Draco's nose, they calmed down and let the argument alone. For two so dissimilar, it was amazing how much they agreed. They agreed they couldn't share the same house, they agreed they couldn't stand each other, and they agreed that they had no idea why Mira was getting rather cranky…

"Boys." She said disbelievingly. The one thing in the world no girl could comprehend was a boy's mind. She walked out of the room wearing a pair of Harry's old jeans and the tee she bought. "Three…two…one…" the room that grew further behind her as she progressed down the hall erupted in the sounds of a loud squabble. Harry walked out looking murderous. Mira couldn't help herself.

"What happened?"

"He threw something over his shoulder and it hit Hedwig's cage." He snarled. He leaned moodily on the wall and sighed. "He's driving me crazy! As if I didn't get enough of him at school…"

Mira joined him against the wall. "You'll just have to put up with him." Then she added soothingly "be the more mature one…" as she slid along the wall and leaned on Harry, gently hinting her sincere feelings. He smiled gratefully and leaned back. They held each other's weight for a moment, silently savoring the peace.

"I'm going to let Hedwig out, she's probably pretty mad at me…" Harry warned before he got up, instead of taking the risk of suddenly throwing Mira off-balance by removing her support. Mira shifted her weight to support herself and watched Harry walk back down the hall. Having done her part, she walked down the stairs and out the door, hoping for a quiet, short walk, and maybe to find and visit Cowlicks and Pat, who had been lurking around between buildings, around trash cans, and generally out of the direct sunlight. She found them standing in the shadows of an alleyway, eyeing a flock of crows on a billboard above them attentively. Cowlicks' ear swiveled her way as she approached, and he turned and gave her a horsy smile, then turned his attention back to the billboard. She patted his flank.

"Better not risk it, Cowlicks." She said sadly. They both lowered their heads in disappointment. Suddenly, Patronus' head snapped up and stared past her, alert. He stomped his foot nervously, and Cowlicks gave something between a whinny and a low growl.

"Cowlicks? Patronus, what's the matter?" she asked in a concerned, worried tone. However, they continued acting this way. Her stomach suddenly dropped when she heard a steely smooth voice speak.

"I don't know," It sneered. "Maybe someone's behind you…"

Chapter 16- Death Eaters

Mira seized up as fear gripped her. Cowlicks let out another strange growl and Patronus bared his fangs, stepping forward. Mira faced the stranger. A large, black cloak billowed behind him and long, pale hair fell down upon the face that was Lucius Malfoy. He looked at the thestrals, whom were both emitting deep, low rumbles.

"Thestrals, how cute." His eyes fell back on Mira. "Miss Mystus, it certainly is a pleasure to see you again…" he said in a cold, nonchalant manner.

"I assure you, the pleasure's all yours, Lucius." She shot. "Have fun in Azkaban?"

"Without dementors?" he smiled evilly. "It was a blast." His face showed cold dispassion, empty emotions, icy blue eyes. Looking at them, Mira was reminded forcefully of Draco's eyes. She was amazed she ever thought Draco a cold being. Compared to his father, Draco was a fountain of summer warmth. This man was a raging blizzard, blowing hate and cruelty in its freezing gusts. Mira shuddered, then looked him in the eyes.

"Go back to the cruel world you belong to, you ass." She hissed. He gave a cold laugh.

"Dear girl, I would like to see you make me." He said in such a dark tone it nearly shook her bones. Mira merely smiled and raised her arms.

"If you insist…" in a brilliant flash of motes, Mira was in her fire form. Lucius whipped out his wand.

The battle was a flash of red, blazing flames and variously-colored spells. Mira ducked, dodged, rolled, flew and struck at him every chance she got. She was a whirr of crimson, moving faster than the eyes could travel, stopping only to strike. Lucius was keeping up, sending shot after shot from his wand while simultaneously dodging Mira's deadly flames. Once, he hit her, rasping loudly a spell she hadn't heard of, and it caught her mid-calf. A long, deep cut sliced down her leg, but she didn't bleed heavily. Because of this, though, Mira quickly tired, and stopped to rest momentarily, cloaked in the thick smoke her fire had created. She was breathing hard, sweat trickling down her face, into her eyes. She wiped it away hastily, and then heard him speak through the smoke, his voice not broken by breaths. She couldn't tell what direction the voice came from.

"Tired, girl? You cannot match even the reflected power of the Dark Lord." He laughed softly. Mira stayed silent, catching her breath, trying to keep her position unknown. He continued speaking.

"That was quite clever, the way you eluded that fool, Severus. The Dark Lord was quite displeased. Tell me…" his voice became hard, hateful. "How did you manage to remove my son's Mark? The Dark Lord was very angry…" she recognized the demonic hint in his voice, the red hate that was rolling off his tongue. "I wasn't there, but by the look of my wife's _body_, he was very angry indeed…" Mira was struggling to locate the disembodied voice. This was worse than she thought, Lucius was not only sent to fetch her, he was insane with revenge. He was blaming her for Narcissa's death, and if he caught her, he was sure to do as much damage as possible from here to Voldemort's lair. She was thinking quickly, her best guess was that he was to her far left. She got up and started walking slowly, blindly, desperate to find an escape. Sure, fighting was fine when the opponent is sane, but to fight a revenge-focused Death Eater, especially one as powerful as Lucius, was just as crazy. Walking silently, she suddenly felt the thing she was fearing the most.

Lucius's wand was roughly thrust into the small of her back.

"Where are you going, girl?" he said in a hysterical chuckle. "I thought we were having fun…" she gave a terrified whimper, and his hand snaked slowly under her hair from behind her. It reached around and closed around her throat, cutting off her air.

"I'm going to make you scream, girl." He whispered. "You killed my wife and turned my son to his death. Unfortunately, I can't kill you. But I will make you wish you were dead one hundred times over." He gave a manic laugh, and she struggled against his crushing hand. He shoved his wand tip farther, and her gasp of pain was stifled. Her vision began to cloud, bright spots of light focusing and unfocusing, obscuring her vision entirely. _Oh, God, someone…help…_as she lost consciousness, she heard a muffled flapping…a sharp cry….

Mira's face met concrete. A long gash drew itself along her cheek by a sharp rock. She gasped air greedily, and her eyes flickered, then closed. The next thing she knew, strong hands lifted her into a sitting position, and something soft pressed against her bleeding cheek. She heard low voices conferring, then heard one say sharply "Mira…Mira, wake up!" she became aware of something tugging gently at her wounded leg, and she opened her eyes to a foggy sight of dark brown and off-white. She shook her head to clear it, and her vision swam into focus. Harry and Draco were holding her up, looks of concern etched onto their faces. Something continued to tug at her leg, and she looked past the boys to see Cowlicks lapping at her bleeding leg. Draco hastily batted him away, and Cowlicks reluctantly joined Patronus a few feet away, who was…breathing hard?

_What happened? _She tried to ask, but it came out in a slurred sigh. They both brightened, relieved. She tried again, steadying her voice consciously.

"What…what happened?" she managed in a small voice. Harry started first.

"Malfoy and I were in my room when something started bashing on the front door. Malfoy-"

"You can call me Draco, Potter." interrupted Draco in an indignant voice.

"Fine." said Harry coolly, turning to Draco. "Then please call me Harry." He returned to the story as if he wasn't interrupted. "Draco and I ran down the stairs and opened the door. Two threstrals were at the door, one of them trying to bash the door down with its head. When I opened the door, it nosed me aside and grabbed the front of Mal-Draco's shirt with its teeth! It began pulling at him, but M-Draco just started to talk to it…called it 'Cowlicks' or something…" Cowlicks raised his head and looked at Harry in response, but Harry continued. "It didn't seem to listen to what he was saying, it just kept pulling. Finally, Draco gave up and climbed on his back, and told me to climb on the other one. Immediately, they both flew off and took us here. When they cleared some smoke, we saw a Death Eater on you, so we stunned him."

Mira shone a brilliant smile toward the thestrals, who swiveled their ears erect at her, and Cowlicks gave his trademark horsy grin proudly. Mira suddenly whipped her head alertly around at the stunned Lucius. "Harry, it's-" she began to warn.

"My father." Finished Draco softly

Harry's head went from Draco to Lucius in utter astonishment.

"You're-you're kidding…right?" begged Harry.

"You know, for such a big hero, you're not very perceptive, Potter." Shot Draco, although it lacked the usual biting vigor. Harry glared at him.

"I thought we were using first names now." Snapped Harry.

Draco sniffed. "Ha. You wish." then added under his breath "_Potter_."

"Harry."

"Potter."

"_Harry._"

"Potter."

"Harry!!"

Draco looked as if in thought for a moment, then said simply "Potter."

Mira smiled and stated "you know, I think I like this cheer you've made for Harry, Draco!" he crinkled his nose in disgust and spat "_Harry._"

"Thank you. Now, as much as I hate to draw away from this riveting conversation, I'd like to sit down somewhere more comfortable, and we really ought to do something about your dad, Draco." Draco looked sadly at the crumpled mass of black cloak a few yards away. It suddenly shifted, and Harry rose, drawing his wand. Draco grabbed Harry's wrist wordlessly, and Harry turned to protest. He stopped when he saw Draco's face, and backed down with an inquiring look on his face. Draco approached his father, and Lucius opened his eyes to his son's wand in his face. He swore softly.

"Draco-" came Lucius' smooth voice.

"Death Eater." Hissed Draco in reply.

"As were you…" said Lucius in a frustrated tone.

"Yea, but I quit. You're still partnered with a murderer, and refuse to quit."

Lucius gave a cold, manic laugh, and Draco winced. "No one stops being a Death Eater, Draco." And he continued to laugh, a sound that chilled to the marrow. Draco had to face the fact that his father had lost his sanity.

"_Stupify_" sighed Draco, and the chilling laughter ceased. Mira got up, with a major effort, and put her hand on Draco's shoulder. He shrugged it off and walked past her silently, staring resolutely at the ground. She turned back to Harry, but lost her balance, her wounded leg falling out from under her. Harry rushed forward and caught her while Draco turned a corner of the ally and was gone. Harry watched the corner Draco had disappeared behind and sighed, hoisting Mira to her feet, allowing her to lean on him for support. He turned to Lucius and thought aloud.

"Now, what should we do with you…?"

Chapter 17- Grimmauld Place

Mira took out her hollow wand and pretended to cast a complicated spell over Lucius, and she channeled a water spell through it. The spell gleamed brightly as it traveled slowly from the wand to the Death Eater, as if floating through a pool of water. It shimmered a light blue the moment it touched him, and wrapped itself around Lucius, and she turned to Harry.

"He'll stay asleep now, and he has no way of escaping. If we can get him to Grimmauld Place, the Order can do something about him." Harry nodded, his face first serious, then aggravated. He glanced meaningfully at the corner where Draco had turned.

"I don't think he's going anywhere. Knowing Draco, he'll need a few days to work things out mentally. He needs to think, and our presence would only be added pressure. Leave him at your Uncle's." Harry nodded again, and with his help, Mira climbed onto Cowlicks, and he climbed up Patronus, who gave him a wary look, then resigned somewhat reluctantly to his weight. They tied Lucius onto the bottom of Patronus with bits of rope they picked up from a neighboring store, and took the short flight to Harry's Uncle's house. Mira wrote a quick letter to the Dursleys saying that Draco was staying for a few days while they left somewhere, and to stay completely out of his way if they wanted to avoid any "you-know-what." After gathering some dressings for Mira's leg, she and Harry took off toward Grimmauld Place, Lucius in tow.

Cowlicks flight was a lot smoother this time, although not as smooth as it should have been. Once in a while, while in flight, he reached his head back to eagerly nose Mira's poorly bandaged leg, which had only a long strip of cloth tied loosely around Mira's calf. This had been all Uncle Vernon offered, which was very generous, considering that the sight of Mira limping in covered in dirt, sweat and blood and literally made Harry's aunt faint. Uncle Vernon probably only spared it to stop the quickly oozing blood from touching the once-spotless white carpet.

They landed in a normal-looking neighborhood, and Mira suddenly boomed some fire magic all around them, overloading the streetlights around them, and everything went dark. Mira thought the password, and two of the houses began to pull apart, squeezing themselves into vertical lines only a few feet wide. As they did, a large, blue-black house revealed itself in the gap in between. The house's paint was chipping and it looked as old as time. Mira gaped for a second, realizing for a moment that she'll never get used to that, then shrugged and walked up the front walk. Purposely avoiding the doorbell, she knocked loudly on the door. Quick, heavy footsteps came hesitantly to the door, and Mira heard the person say something along the lines of "not expecting anyone…" the door swung open to reveal a young woman with spiked, bubblegum-pink hair in jeans and a black tee that had "Weird Sisters" advertised clearly on the front. Her eyes expanded as Mira gave a sly smile.

"Merlin's mother!" she breathed suddenly and whipped Mira into a tight hug.

Mira laughed. "Tonks!" they broke apart and she gave Tonks a reproachful look. "How do you know I'm not a Death Eater in disguise?" she joked. Tonks laughed in turn and looked admiringly at the thestrals.

"Who else would make friends with potentially dangerous animals, travel with Harry Potter, another life-threatening act…" Harry looked sheepish. "…and know how to get into this old dump?" she waved her hand at the house. "That Death Eater would have to have done a lot of homework…"

Mira sobered. "You don't have to worry about Death Eaters." She waved at Patronus' stomach. "…until now." Tonks looked alarmed and drew her wand. "Calm down. This is Patronus." She pointed to the thestral. "…and this is Patronus' captive, as well as ours."

Tonks' eyes widened drastically. She paled and asked slowly "Mira…Mira, tell me that's not…"

"Lucius Malfoy, under a captivation spell." provided Mira. Tonks continued to stare at her, then at Harry, eyes pleading for someone to tell her it was a joke. Her face was paper-white, and without turning around, suddenly yelled "R-Remus! MINERVA!!" A strict but angrily soft voice bounded back to them.

"For heaven's sake, Tonks, keep your voice down! Do you want to wake up Mrs. Bla-" Minerva McGonagall stopped in her tracks as she reached the doorway, staring at Mira.

"Hello, professor!" said Mira breathlessly.

"M-Miss Mystus! But Severus…but you…" she trailed away, walked up primly, and then relaxed into a brief hug, relief on her face. Remus Lupin appeared behind her, and Mira gave him a broad smile. He returned it just as broadly, if not bigger. He was as ragged looking as before, but this time he was clean-shaven and washed. Tonks cleared her throat, and all eyes fell on her.

"M-Minerva…" Tonks stammered.

"Not now, Nymphadora. Mr. Potter, what on earth are you doing here? Never mind, we must contact Miss Granger and the Weasleys at once. Goodness, are-are those _thestrals?!_" she almost shrieked.

"MINERVA!" bellowed Tonks, and a horrible shrieking sound suddenly echoed down the halls. McGonagall closed her eyes and suppressed her anger for a moment, then turned to Tonks, her lips pressed into a straight, severe line.

"_Yes,_ Nymphadora?" she said coldly as shouts behind them mingled with the screaming accusations of Mrs. Black. Tonks ignored the use of her first name and pointed. McGonagall followed Tonks' finger and her eyes rested on the lumpy underside of Patronus. A lock of long, pale hair fell away from Lucius' face, and McGonagall went as pale as Tonks.

"He's unconscious," interjected Mira immediately, seeing McGonagall's face. Mira was standing next to Harry and Lupin off to the left. Lupin was staring at Lucius with mixed shock and grave seriousness on his face. Her voice made Tonks and McGonagall jump, both apparently entranced at the sight the Death Eater strapped on a Thestral's belly. They looked at her as if seeing her for the first time, and Mira continued. "He jumped me near Harry's house. Harry and Draco-"

"Draco- Draco _Malfoy?!_" shrieked McGonagall.

"It's all _right!_" Mira said, exasperated. "He helped us stun his own father; he helped me escape from Vol-"

"Enough!" Tonks said in a cheery voice, slightly strained. "Before the story, let's take care of our more prominent problem.

McGonagall gave Tonks a brief, appraising look and agreed. "Quite right, Nymph-" McGonagall stopped at Tonks' glare. "Er…Tonks." She turned to face the hall and suddenly shouted primly, "Alastor!"

_Thump…thump…thump…_ the sounds of a synthetic leg crossing a wood floor drifted into earshot. A short man with a very scarred, weathered face came into view, a large, electric blue eye whizzed around in one socket menacingly, going from one person to another.

"What can I do fer ya, Minerva…" he said in a rusty voice, then both eyes rested on Mira, wide with shock.

"Moody?" said Tonks tentatively, aware of Mad-Eye's sudden tension. "Moody, we have a Death Eater problem…"

"YOU'RE DAMN RIGHT, WE HAVE A DEATH EATER PROBLEM!!!" Moody suddenly bellowed, whipping out his wand and pointing it, not at Patronus, but at Mira's face. Mira gave a short scream and ducked as a spell washed over her head, making her hair stand on end. Shouts erupted around her, and she stood up again. Harry stood in front of her, hands out in a protective manner, face grim. Over his shoulder, she could see McGonagall and Tonks were wrestling with Moody, who apparently was under the impression that he was in a Death Eater ambush attack. Raging shouts fought with attempted loud, calming reassurances. Moody was screaming things like "You'll never take me alive!" and "I won't go down without a fight, scum!" McGonagall was the one trying to calm Moody, holding one of his hands as close to the ground as she could. Tonks wasn't saying anything; she was concentrating all her energy in keeping Moody's wand hand away from everyone else. Moody continued to thrash wildly, like a trapped animal, and suddenly someone in the small crowd shouted "ENOUGH!" Everyone turned in surprise to the source of the commanding voice, Lupin, who hadn't said anything since Mira arrived. After the shock of Lupin's command wore off, all eyes landed on Moody, who was staring in rage at Mira, breathing hard. Due to his magical eye, Moody was also one of the very few who knew of Mira's secret. He, Draco, Voldemort…and Dumbledore.

"It really is me, Moody…" Mira said quietly. Checking quickly to make sure all eyes were on Moody, she flipped her wings out, and they glittered for a half-second before they were swiftly withdrawn. She waited in tense silence. Then…

"My God, how did ya get away from the Death Eaters?" came the rusty whisper, and Mira let out her captive breath. McGonagall and Tonks let him go with obvious relief.

"I think we'd all like to know," chirped Tonks, "but first, I'll contact Hermione and Arthur." Everyone nodded in agreement and Moody led Patronus inside, spinning tales on great fights on thestral-back, the first time he saw a thestral, and how thestrals always could sense a dark wizard. Uncomfortable, Mira cleared her throat.

"Ah, speaking of dark wizards…" Mira began in a whisper, leaning toward Moody.

"I know, I saw him." Moody winked with his good eye, his voice in a whisper, too. "That was the other thing that convinced me. Sorry 'bout that. I figured that yeh were dead, and one can never be too careful." He raised his voice suddenly and barked "Constant vigilance!" McGonagall jumped, and everyone shared a laugh as they progressed down the hall.

Chapter 18- The Weasleys

During the visit at his godfather's house, Harry got gloomier and gloomier. Moody appeared once and a while, taking breaks from guarding the unconscious Death Eater. However, he spend less and less time in the stuffy room where Lucius was kept, leaning over one night to comment on how much he marveled the imprisonment spell keeping him asleep. He decided that a better use of his time was to boast constantly the many adventures of a powerful auror. Lupin barely spoke, and Tonks was as bright as her bubble-gum hair, chatting animatly with Mira. Mira was urged to reiterate her tale of escape many times, occasionally leaving out or adding in details to retain her secret. Every time she bent the truth, she received a chill that told her that Moody knew she was lying, and was staring at her with both eyes. She came very close to revealing her secret only once, when Tonks suddenly blurted-

"Can't Voldemort track the Malfoy kid by his Dark Mark?" an awkward silence filled the room like a thick gas. Uncomfortable silence spun around Mira as all eyes landed on her, demanding an explanation. Even Moody focused on her curiously for a moment, then turned his magical eye to the direction of the front door.

"They're here." He grunted suddenly, startling everyone in the room, and Mira jumped up immediately, gave a look of immense gratitude and relief to Moody, who winked, and darted to the door. She opened it to receive a face-full of brown hair accompanied by delighted noises, including a loud, high-pitched shriek.

"Hermione!" she choked, half delighted, half oxygen-deprived. Hermione came out of their hug, eyes shining with tears. She couldn't speak, so she shut her eyes and shook her head, and suddenly moved aside to reveal Mrs. Weasley, who, the moment she was revealed, pulled Mira into a bone-crushing, tearful hug.

"Oh, my, oh dear, I'm so glad you're ok…" she mumbled into Mira's hair, and a reprimanding voice came from behind them.

"Molly, dear." Said the kind voice, and Mrs. Weasley gave a small "oh!" and let Mira go, who gulped in air greedily. She looked up to see a beaming Mr. Weasley behind a very wet-faced Mrs. Weasley, who was smiling brilliantly through her tears. They stepped aside as well to let Mira out to see Ginny and Ron, and was surprised to be greeted enthusiastically be the entire Weasley family, minus Percy, plus Fleur Weasley, Bill's new wife.

"Oh, Mira!" exclaimed Fleur as she whipped her gorgeous silvery hair and flung herself forward to kiss both Mira's cheeks in greeting. "_Oh_, ve vere so vorried! 'Arry told us ze Death Eater took you! 'Ow on _earth_ deed you escape?!" Fleur spoke rapidly in her throaty French accent, a slight tint of hysteria touching her voice.

"Fleur! Bill! What- what about your honeymoon?" Mira choked.

"Zat ees not eemortant." She said, waving her hand dismissively. "Mozer told us you vere here and ve vasted no time! We 'ad to come, all of uz thought you vere _killed_!" Mrs. Wealsey drew up her chest proudly when she heard Fleur say "mother." Fleur continued.

"Ve vere in Paris, at ze moment veesiting Madam Maxime, who asked to speek vis us about ze wedding. Mozer sent zat old bird and told us right away. Oh, eet ees so good to see you!" Fleur grinned up at Bill, who smiled back at Fleur, then Mira. At least, Mira assumed he was smiling. Bill's scarred face was a souvenir from an attack of a half-changed werewolf, Fenrir Wolfcastle. It had healed well, but was still disfigured, his handsome features that had once charmed girls gone. One of his eyes had a skin-colored eye patch, and across his lips lay a ropey scar. However, the part that secretly surprised her most was the vibrant silver kissmark on his right cheek. The color matched the lipstick painted on his wife's lips, and when he saw her looking at it, his cheeks took on a very slight, bright pink flush. Mira was suddenly thumped on the back, and turned around to see two young men, identical to each other in every way, everything matching except the pins on their red dragonhide hats. Fred had red, George had purple. Robes that matched the hats reflected the sun, causing them to appear to be standing in a sheath of light, and Mira grinned at them.

"'Ello!" they said together, their boyish grins framing their faces.

"Fred, George!" she laughed at their outfits, which clashed horribly with their bright red hair. They paid no mind, apparently accepting the laughter as a complement. "How on earth did you get away from the shop?"

"Hired someone." said Fred offhandishly.

"Had to come see you." Finished George.

"Hope you gave that bloody Snape a wholloping for us!" Fred snarled at the thought of their previous potions teacher.

"I wouldn't mind a punch on Lucius Malfoy, either." George winked. "Bloody coward, sneaking up on you like that!" Almost as an afterthought, he added in a whisper, "Hey, where do you keep the bludger, anyway?"

"George!" Mira said in a groan, but couldn't hide her laughter at the thought of the twins sneaking into the room and giving the unconscious man a few good kicks. George leaned in closer.

"Got something else for ya, but we'll give it to you later." He glanced significantly over at his mother, who was chatting with Tonks.

"Hey, where's Ron?" asked Mira, craning her neck to look over the sea of undulating red hair.

"Somewhere around here, probably talking to Harry." Said Fred dismissively. "Speaking of Harry, where is he? We've got somethin' for him, too." George grinned slyly.

"Oy, Fred, George, what are you two smuggling this time?" called a familiar voice, and Mira watched as two more red-haired teens emerged form the mass. Ron came out with a huge grin, while Ginny rushed at Mira, nearly knocking her down.

"Ginny!" exclaimed Mira happily as she wrapped her arms around Mira's neck.

"Come on, Ginny." Started Fred.

"I'm not sure she can take any less oxygen…" laughed George.

"Gack!" responded Mira.

"Sorry!" yelped Ginny, and she leapt back. Ron was laughing, and she sent him a quick glare. The group asked her to recall her story again, and she did, many times. During the several frequently-interrupted recollections, Mira kept casually batting the subject of Draco's Mark away, along with other awkward questions. The Weasleys were a great audience, gasping and laughing in the right places, and even clapping once or twice at the end. Everyone gave surprise little noises when she told of the unexpected encounter with Lucius. In a nervous voice, Mrs. Weasley absolutely forbid the others from going near the room that housed the Death Eater, but Mira was sure she caught a quick sparkle of mischief and a sly smile in the Twin's eyes. She gave them a look that could have rivaled their mother's, but they merely smiled wider, and Mira resumed the conversation that had followed her third retelling. Mostly, the "conversation" was an interrogation consisting of questions involving Voldemort's lair, what happened with Snape, and what spells she used to fight Lucius. (The last one pressed thoroughly and repeatedly by Hermione.)

After a little while and a lot of questions, Mira gave a wide yawn, and Mrs. Weasley's sharp eyes caught Mira's exhaustion, and she found herself swept up by the motherly woman.

"Bed!" she sang, but everyone continued to bombard Mira with questions.

"So Malfoy's mum is _dead_?!" asked Ron in awe.

"What spell did you use on Lucius?" whined Hermione persistently.

"_Muggle clothes,_ you say?" asked Mr. Weasley eagerly.

"_Arthur!_" Barked Mrs. Weasley, and Mr. Weasley immediately shrank into his seat.

"Heh. Ok, Molly. Alright, everyone, you heard your mother!" a round of groans answered him, and Mrs. Weasley shot them another deadly glare.

"She's had a rough day, time for bed!" she said in a strained voice, and Mira didn't dare protest. However, she wanted to see Harry before she went to sleep. She caught his eye, and he got the message, nodded, but didn't follow. Instead, he went to his room with Ron, while Mira, Ginny and Hermione were herded into another. On entering the room, Patronus lifted his head from the corner of the dim room, and observed quietly as Mrs. Weasley came in with fresh bandages and tended to her leg, first rubbing a potion from a small bottle onto the wound, making Mira wince. Hermione and Ginny were unaware of the thestral that took up a whole corner of the room, but shivered silently whenever Patronus looked right at them. Mira decided not to tell them of the thestral's presence. If Mira couldn't see them, she wouldn't want to be told she was sharing a room with a large, invisible, bat-like, fanged horse.

Mira didn't have to tell them. Patronus announced his presence loudly when Harry Apparated into the room suddenly. Patronus gave an odd bellow of surprise and clattered up from his resting position, and Hermione gave a short, high pitched squeak and stared at Pat's corner, alarmed. Harry ran over and whispered softly to the thestral, coaxing it down (which it did with a hollow "thump.") and relaxing it quickly, in order to avoid Mrs. Wealsey's attention. Patronus let out an annoyed grunt, but allowed himself to be pet, resuming his observant air. Ginny was in the far corner of her bed, not cowering, but staring curiously at what looked to her like an empty corner. Harry turned to Mira.

"Hey. You wanted to talk?" he asked in a whisper.

Hermione flared. "How could you have just popped in here?! What if we were dressing?" she demanded. Harry and Ginny flushed, but Mira revoked Hermione soothingly.

"Hermione, it's ok. He probably gave us this much time on purpose. He assumed you two would get dressed to let me go to sleep faster." Said Mira coolly.

"Hmph. You should go to sleep anyway. And you, Harry." Hermione sniffed. "You shouldn't be up talking. Especially since Mrs. Weasley might have heard the thestral's noise." Had Patronus had eyebrows, he would have cocked one at Hermione. Instead, he merely gave an audible snort, making Hermione jump, and Patronus resigned, content with his payback. Mira giggled, and Hermione shot her a disdainful look.

"Oh, come on, Hermione," she said, reading Hermione's look. "Just for a bit…"

"Well, what if _we_ want to sleep?" she demanded.

"No problem." Harry grinned, and before Hermione could protest, he grabbed Mira's arm and Disapparated. Mira tried to gasp in fear, but they were already squeezing through the tiny rubber tube. She hadn't expected this. Faeries weren't supposed to Apparate, it does major temporary damage to their powers and flight. She couldn't struggle, she couldn't even scream. The process seemed to take forever. It hurt. Oh, god, it hurt a _lot_. She couldn't breathe…

Then it was over. Mira collapsed on the wooden floor of what was undoubtedly a room on one of the higher floors, gasping in pain and shock. She felt Harry's hand on her back, but if he said anything, she couldn't hear it, due to the deafening roaring in her ears. She felt Harry pick her up and lean her against something warm and soft…

As she caught her breath, a large, hooked beak was shoved in her face, a warm breath played across her face. She smiled and shoved the huge beak away playfully. It sneezed and nosed her face again. The breath smelled vaguely of blood.

"Buckbeak!" she groaned, but her joy of seeing the hippogriff showed through her annoyed mask. Buckbeak huffed and continued to nose her until she felt well enough to get up and away from the obnoxious wake-up call. Buckbeak got up as well, and allowed Mira to lean on his warm, muscular, and purely equine flank. His feathers tickled her nose as he sniffed at her hurt leg, and she marveled again at how beautifully the feathers meshed into the grey hair of his horse-like back and legs. Harry watched her with confusion and concern.

"Are you alright?" He asked with a frown.

"Yea. Fine. Don't do that again…" choked Mira. She couldn't feel it now, but her powers were trashed for a few hours, and her flight would work, but only for a few feet. She knew Harry didn't know, but she was still pretty annoyed that he didn't ask her, or at least give a warning.

To her surprise, Harry smiled. "Yea," he said with a hint of amusement. "It's tough the fist time. The first time I Apparated, it was side-along with Dumbledore."

Mira scowled. Harry thought she was just shaken. Harry, seeing that she was still angry, tried explaining himself.

"Ok, I should have warned you, but I wanted to know what you had to say." He tried. Mira rolled her eyes. It was not going to work. Mira was feeling moody, and by God, she was going to make him apologize. As if on a cue, he tilted her head up and kissed her briefly, then whispered, "I'm sorry." Mira smiled hesitantly in spite of her moody image, and whispered "never again…" once more with finality.

"Done." Responded Harry, and he smiled reassuringly. They talked for a while, enjoying the presence of each other's company, as well as Buckbeak's.

Chapter 20- Apparation Effects and Dreams


End file.
